Larry Eustachy had a feeling the news was coming and on Monday, it became official.

CSU transfer forward Chane Behanan, the prized possession in the Rams' 2014 recruiting class, will forgo his senior season and enter the NBA draft.

"After a lot of thought, I have decided to put my name into the NBA draft and begin my professional career," Behanan said in a statement released by Colorado State University. "I want to thank coach Eustachy and his staff for the opportunity to continue my college career at Colorado State, and for their support over the past five months. This was a very difficult decision, but after speaking with my family, coach (John) Lucas and coach Eustachy, I knew that I had their support to make what I felt was the best decision for me at this point in time."

Attempts by The Coloradoan to reach Behanan for further comment were unsuccessful.

Behanan signed with CSU in January and has been taking online courses following his December dismissal from Louisville for violating team rules. He averaged 9.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game as a sophomore in 2012-13, helping the Cardinals win the NCAA championship. He played in only 12 games as a junior this past season, averaging 7.6 points and 6.3 rebounds.

The official status of Behanan with CSU had been in question, even without him considering entering the draft. The 6-foot-6 forward, who wouldn't have become eligible to play for the Rams until late December, was given an arrest citation by Louisville police on April 2 for possession of marijuana and has a court date set for Tuesday. But Eustachy confirmed via conference call Monday afternoon that he would have had a spot on the roster, regardless of his recent legal issues.

"In Chane's time with us, we helped him. Conversely, he helped us, even though he's never going to play a minute," Eustachy said. "He's a big name, probably the biggest name to ever enroll at the university here. Young players identify with him and if Colorado State is up and coming like that for Chane, then people are going to take a look at Colorado State. There are no losers in this.

CSU coach Larry Eustachy said the Rams have been recruiting to plan for life without Behanan.
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Behanan's departure from CSU, where he was officially on scholarship, won't have an affect on the team's Academic Progress Rate scores, Eustachy said, but does leave the Rams with two vacancies it can fill this offseason.

Forward Marcus Holt and guards Dwight Smith and David Cohn have also left the program in the past month, placing CSU below the NCAA scholarship limit of 13. It was planning on adding an immediately-eligible point guard via transfer or high school signing, but finding another big man to fill Behanan's shoes shouldn't be an issue.

"We've recruited as if he wasn't going to be here, and we kind of do that with a lot of our players because they might not be here because of injury," Eustachy said. "We just stay in stride and keep moving forward.

"We're going to be very selective on who we take."

CSU is expected to bring in high school point guard Joseph Victor out of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., on an official visit this week. Toby Van Ry, a 6-foot-9 forward from Fort Collins High School who signed with the Rams in the fall, is still set to attend prep school in Kansas next season before joining CSU in 2015-16.

The Rams are still planning on transfers making a big impact for them next season with forwards Stanton Kidd (North Carolina Central) and Dantiel Daniels (Southern Illinois) and point guard John Gillon (Arkansas-Little Rock) becoming eligible.